Carbing my first keg soon - Carbing question.

[htims05]

I'm going to carb my first keg soon and have been reading the charts - I'll likely do the slow carb technique instead of trying to slosh it around so it'll sit at pressure for 3 -5 days I suppose.

My question is this...I see that the lower the temp the less pressure I need. My fermenting temp will probably be in the High 55f to 65f at the time it is done. Can I put the beer in the keg, then keg to the kegerator without the gas being hooked up (other than the initial hookup to seal the keg and burp out the ambient air)...let it be in the kegerator for 1 day to get down to the 35-40 f temp...then hookup the gas.

Or should I hookup the gas as soon as the keg goes into the kegerator even though it's room temp at that point?

 

[day_trippr]

No need to wait for the keg to chill. I don't.
As for that "3-5 days", plan on two weeks...

Cheers!

 

[htims05]

Ok maybe I will shake it - it sounds like a pain...

So do you just set the initial pressure to ~30psi and then shake it around for 5-10 min...then let it sit in the kegerator without gas hooked up for say 1/2 a day....then hook gas back up at desired pressure based on a carbing chart?

Do you shake it around when the gas line is hooked up...like is it a vigorous shake or just a slosh/swirl?

 

[day_trippr]

The typical "burst carb" method (represented by the blue line above) is to set the pressure to 30 psi for 24 hours - without any agitation of the beer - then drop down to chart pressure from there on.

If you're going to do the "shake and bake" rapid carb method the most reliable way to do that is to use chart pressure and rock or shake the keg until you can't hear any more gas entering the keg. Leave it be for an hour or two then repeat. Keep doing that until no more gas enters the keg and theoretically you've reached equilibrium in as little as an afternoon...

Cheers!

 

[htims05]

The typical "burst carb" method (represented by the blue line above) is to set the pressure to 30 psi for 24 hours - without any agitation of the beer - then drop down to chart pressure from there on.

If you're going to do the "shake and bake" rapid carb method the most reliable way to do that is to use chart pressure and rock or shake the keg until you can't hear any more gas entering the keg. Leave it be for an hour or two then repeat. Keep doing that until no more gas enters the keg and theoretically you've reached equilibrium in as little as an afternoon...

Cheers!

Oh got it - many thanks....seems like shaking the beer is not a great idea but that might just be because ever since you were little you were told not to shake soda and then that just transfers to anything carbonated.

Any adverse affects to shaking....what's the going consensus to the "best" way?

 

[day_trippr]

Shaking incurs the potential degradation of long-chain "foam once" proteins through shearing.
I honestly don't know what the distribution of home brewers is across "set and forget", "burst" and "shaken" carbonation methods.
I only know I almost always do "set and forget" because I have a deep pipeline so a couple weeks cold-conditioning on CO2 while waiting for an open tap works nicely...

Cheers!

 

[moe.ron86]

Kegged my first as well. It's at 15psi for 24 hours then I'm dropping it down to about 6-8psi, then I'm gonna drink it.

Anyone think I should do it differently?

 

[Jag75]

I set @30psi for 36 hrs , then 12psi for a day or so and has worked .

 

[day_trippr]

Kegged my first as well. It's at 15psi for 24 hours then I'm dropping it down to about 6-8psi, then I'm gonna drink it.

Anyone think I should do it differently?

Take a look at our favorite carbonation table, plug in the temperature you hold your beer kegs, and see what carbonation level 6-8 psi provides. Sounds really low...

Cheers!

 

[RCope]

Kegged my first as well. It's at 15psi for 24 hours then I'm dropping it down to about 6-8psi, then I'm gonna drink it.

Anyone think I should do it differently?

My sweet spot is 35 psi for 24 hours at 36 degrees...those 3 variables are all important for consistency. 15psi will do very little in that time span. After 24 hrs I release pressure, then connect to the kegerator at 9 psi. I like my beer cold...so that serving/carbing pressure works for me. I have also used the set and forget method. It does, indeed, take about 2 weeks. I just can't wait that long!

 

[Alex4mula]

I use a carb stone. Slowly rise to 17-19 psi in about three hrs. It carbs nicely in 15-20hrs total.

 

[eric19312]

Take a look at our favorite carbonation table, plug in the temperature you hold your beer kegs, and see what carbonation level 6-8 psi provides. Sounds really low...

Cheers!

+1

6 psi even, if you serve at 30F, is going to be very low carbonation. I do 40 PSI for 24 hours then set it at 12 PSI serving pressure. Kegs are stored and served at 39F. You always need to consider temperature when you are thinking about gas pressures.